DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN L&O SVU OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS OR PLOTLINES, JUST MY OWN.
A/N: Ok so here it is the last chapter, I hope you enjoyed!
Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story, I'm glad so many of you have enjoyed it and I hope this ending doesn't disappoint!
"Olivia's not answering her phone." Elliot sighed walking into the office where Cragen, Serena and Alex sat.
"She just need's some space, give her time." Serena said knowing her daughter well enough to know that.
"She went with Mrs Cleary and Harper, she's going to be just fine Elliot." Alex reassured.
"She's strong, but what happened today… it's hurting all of them." Cragen added.
"Are you going to refile?" Serena asked looking at the blonde ADA.
"If Liv will let me yes." Alex said. "He's as guilty as sin and the judge and jury knew that."
When Cragen's phone rang he answered it and the three others in the room watched as his face paled.
"Shot's fired at the Cleary residence. Detective Benson is already on scene." He said shakily and everyone got up. "Elliot, you go, we'll wait here,, call me as soon as you know anything."
Elliot walked calmly into the house where the scene waited for him. The place was already crawling with law enforcement, people from CSU, SVU, First Responders and the ME.
He walked into the kitchen where most of the hustle and bustle was and saw what he had feared. Olivia, Harper and Mrs Cleary all stood visibly shaken.
Olivia was stood just a few steps back from Harper and Mrs Cleary and she was obviously traumatized and completely frozen.
"What happened?" Elliot asked the anger taking over, he was angry that these women had taken the law into their own hands, he was terrified that Olivia had done something stupid.
"We were here having a coffee when he came banging on the door begging for custody." Mrs Cleary said weakly.
"He came in, we didn't know what to do when he started waving his gun around. Olivia drew hers on him but she was shaking, she couldn't have done anything even if he shot at one of us." Harper added and the way Olivia's head just bowed further and her eyes closed in visible shame Elliot knew that it was true.
"What killed him?" Elliot asked Melinda.
"He was shot eight times. Only twice pre-mortem, the others post mortem. He was shot twice in the chest, then once in each shoulder, each knee and each ankle." Melinda spoke quietly knowing that Elliot would understand everything she was saying. "The two shots to the chest killed him, the others were done about five minutes post-mortem from what I can tell from the wounds."
"Liv didn't kill him did she." Elliot said, it wasn't a question.
"No. I don't think she did. I can guarantee that when the ballistics are ran six of the bullets will match Olivia's on duty glock. The other two will match the gun that Mrs Cleary handed the uniform when they arrived." Melinda said before turning back to the body.
"Who cleaned up in here?" He asked looking at the three women, Olivia was still standing with a bowed head and closed eyes.
"I did… Meredith didn't want the blood seeping into the floor… why?"
"The bleach messes up the residue test Harper and you know that." Elliot snapped, even though he wasn't that angry, Kenneth Cleary deserved everything he got and more.
"Who killed him?" Elliot asked firmly.
"I did, but it was self-defence he said he'd shoot me to get my son, I couldn't let him get my boy." Mrs Meredith Cleary explained weakly and Elliot took a deep breath to calm himself.
"You three will need to come down to the station and give your statements." Elliot said before walking right up to Olivia. "I need your gun Liv." He whispered.
She just nodded without looking at him and took her gun from the holster and placed it in his hand.
"He was already dead El, when I used that gun." She said as he went to walk away.
As he bagged up her gun for evidence her words rang in his ears. 'he was already dead when I used that gun' why mention the specific gun, yes there were three guns on the premises but Olivia should only have shot one, the obvious Glock… that's when realisation hit him.
Olivia had to be interviewed by IAB so while Elliot and Cragen spoke to Mrs Cleary and Munch and Fin spoke to Harper, Olivia was taken into a separate interrogation room to be interviewed by Lieutenant Ed Tucker.
"I want a lawyer." She said as soon as he entered the room.
"Ok." He said. "But if what I've been told is true Detective, then you don't need one."
"I'm … I'm a… I'm a rape … rape victim…" She hiccupped shakily as she supressed the cry she desperately needed. "I… I am easy to… to manipulate into… into getting answers… I'm … I'm not myself." She said honestly and Ed Tucker sat down in the seat opposite her.
"I know that Olivia." He said softly and for the first time her eyes linked onto his and for the first time they didn't look as cold and calculating as they normally looked, for the first time, Ed Tucker looked like he had a heart and soul.
"If what Detective Stabler tells me is the truth and is what you'll say on record now then you have absolutely nothing to worry about." He said and Olivia believed him. "I'll make this as easy as I can for you."
She thought for a moment.
"I can stop and ask for a lawyer at any time?" She asked and Ed Tucker managed to hide his grimace at the tough detective's vulnerability, it was almost childlike.
"Anytime." He promised and Olivia nodded and took a deep forced breath and a slow exhale before giving a firm nod for the tape to begin. "Please state your name and number for the record." He began.
"Detective Olivia Benson badge number four zero one five." She said.
"Detective Benson, why were you at the Cleary Residence early this evening?"
"Harper Anderson was concerned about Mrs Cleary's mental wellbeing after her accidentally causing a mistrial, she was distraught and she asked myself and Harper around for coffee, she wanted to apologise and so we went, mainly because we knew she wasn't ok." Olivia said.
"What happened when Mr Cleary entered the premises?" Tucker's asked his voice still gentle.
"He came in saying he wanted to see his son, and Mrs Cleary said 'over my dead body' and that's when… that's when Mr Cleary pulled out his gun." Olivia replied.
"What happened next?" He pushed.
"Uh… it all happened so fast… he was… he was waving this gun around and…" Olivia's face was fixed in a frown and her voice became a higher pitch with more distressed she got. "and so I … I pulled out my gun… and… and I froze." She admitted closing her eyes in shame. "I've never frozen before. My hand was shaking and I wanted to shoot to disarm I did and I froze and I… I couldn't move so… so Mrs Cleary went into her purse and pulled out this gun and said to him 'just because Detective Benson can't shoot you, I can' and he laughed and said then she should and that's when she fired, twice." Olivia replied.
"What happened next?"
"Mrs Cleary began to panic and I was so spaced out, I could hear her and Harper talking but I… I didn't know why I froze… I was angry and confused and … I don't know why but I walked to the body and I looked down at him and he was bleeding and I pressed my fingers into his neck to look for a pulse and when I didn't find one I stood up, over him and I held my gun out and fired… I fired six times, starting with his left shoulder, then his right, then his knees and then his ankles… I needed to prove I hadn't gone gun shy."
Ed Tucker looked at her as a few stray tears slipped down her cheeks. For some reason, he suspected that this was just a slight version of what actually happened, he was a Lieutenant with years of experience and he could tell when people were lying but the three women were sticking to the story they'd concocted and it was obvious they wouldn't be able to prove otherwise and truth was… he didn't want to know the truth, he hated bent cops but what Olivia did wasn't her getting revenge, it was her getting justice, and she deserved justice.
"Thank you." He said switching the tape off and she nodded. "You're free to go. You'll get your gun back as soon as ballistics have finished up with it as long as there isn't evidence to prove that your version of events isn't a lie." He placed her shield on the table. "Take it and go."
"Thank you." She said honestly and he nodded.
"You will have to see the department shrink its…"
"Protocol, I know… to be honest… I think I'm going to take some time… just to see someone properly and … and really deal with all of this." She told him and he nodded.
"That's understandable, take care of yourself Olivia." He said and she gave him a weak smile before leaving him and entering the empty bullpen.
She was there five minutes before Elliot walked in and sat on the edge of her desk. She looked up from her chair and then back out into the distance and Elliot sighed.
"What really happened Olivia?" He asked. "And please don't lie to me."
"Are you going to repeat it to anyone if I tell you?" She asked.
"No and you know me better than to ask that." He said a little hurt but he also knew that she was hurting.
"I did pull my gun on him and I did… momentarily freeze but by the time I'd built up the courage to shoot him … Harper stood there with her gun… he … he was unarmed Elliot, the gun in his hand is an unregistered back up gun that Harper bought. But anyway, he was there pleading to see his son and then all of a sudden he has two of his victims with guns pointed towards him and he knew it was over for him.
Harper… she told me not to shoot him with my gun and she said that she would take the fall if the plan she had didn't work, she told Mrs Cleary to hold the gun with her and then she told me it was my choice, I didn't have to but I could help them too, we'd all enjoy the… enjoy the pleasure of killing him and I… I did El. I held the gun with them, the three of us had a finger on the trigger and… and…" The tears spilled down her cheeks. "I put the pressure on it, my finger was on top and I… I put the pressure on the trigger and I… I shot him twice and when the gun fell from our hands… the three of us sighed with relief.
Then it all happened so fast, Harper was cleaning up and explaining how we were going to get away with it, she posed the gun and I just stood there for a minute before I knew… I knew I had to shoot him myself with… with my gun, my weapon that I've carried around since I became a cop… so that's when I shot him six times in the way you would to disarm, I know, we don't shoot six times to disarm but the places I shot… it was so I wouldn't ruin the bullets in his chest… El… I'm getting away with murder."
The end!
